China, US urged to improve agricultural ‘bright spot’ to ‘inject new impetus’ in Beijing, Washington relations

By Wendy Wu

China and the United States should improve cooperation in the agricultural sector, labelled as “a bright spot” in bilateral relations, to “inject new impetus” to ease overall rivalry and fight climate change, officials from both sides said.

Agriculture was the major component of China’s purchase commitments under the phase-one trade deal, which expired at the end of last year.

China was blamed for falling short of meeting the purchase targets, although Beijing said that it had made the utmost effort to deliver on the deal in the face of the coronavirus pandemic and deteriorating relations.

Qin Gang, China’s ambassador to the US, said that China had “faithfully” fulfilled the agriculture commitment under the two-year deal, which was signed in January 2020.

“Our agricultural trade registered a quick comeback from the pandemic and trade frictions, and rose to US$47 billion in 2021, with China’s imports reaching US$39 billion, up by 46 per cent year on year,” said Qin.

China imports one fifth of US agricultural products, more than any other country or region, he said, urging both sides to forge closer agricultural cooperation to “inject new impetus” into overall bilateral relations and help with food security, as well as the battle against climate change.

“On average, each American farmer exported more than US$11,000 of agricultural products to China. Agricultural production best explained the win-win nature of our economic and trade relations. It also speaks to our highly complementary economic structures and deeply intertwined interests,” Qin added.

Qin made the remarks at the virtual opening ceremony of the China-US round table hosted jointly by the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries and the US Heartland China Association on Tuesday.

The event followed a virtual meeting between President Xi Jinping and US counterpart Joe Biden on Friday, which took place as bilateral tensions have further been complicated by the protracted war between Russia and Ukraine.

The Peterson Institute for International Economics said China bought less than 60 per cent of the US exports outlined as part of the phase-one trade deal, although the Washington-based think tank said agriculture reached 83 per cent, with pork, corn, wheat and sorghum exports exceeding their targets.

Under the deal, China agreed to buy an additional US$200 billion worth of American goods and services over the following two years, compared with 2017 levels.

But no progress has been revealed by either side on trade consultations and any replacement arrangement for the phase-one trade deal.

Jason Hafemeister, acting deputy undersecretary for Trade and Foreign Agriculture Affairs at the US Department of Agriculture, said the US exported more than US$33 billion in agricultural products to China in 2021.

This represented “a big increase” compared to the pre-trade war record of US$25 billion, and “much better than” the US$10 billion “at the depth of the trade war”.

“We have great optimism that we can do even better. If we can stay on track with the market staying open and China continuing to reform some of its restrictive practices, this in the short term would be a US$50 billion market,” Hafemeister added.

Read more at South China Morning Post.